Tag: Seattle Mariners

Mike Macdonald seen hanging with these mega-stars in Seattle

Mike Macdonald seen hanging with these mega-stars in Seattle

The stars were out and about in the Emerald City this past weekend. Visiting Seattle was one of the biggest comedians in the country right now, Shane Gillis. Joining him was Seattle’s own Adam Ray as the opening act. When a comedian of Gillis’ status comes to town, it tends to draw quite the crowd, including the city’s biggest names.

Among those in attendance to see Gillis and Ray was none other than Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and his wife! Macdonald even got to meet the comedians… as well as another beloved Seattle star: the Mariners’ own Cal Raleigh.

Sometimes at Seahawks Wire, we love to cover the little things that are fun. This certainly qualifies.

While I am sure Coach Macdonald would rather be preparing to play this Sunday for a Lombardi, a night of laughs with Shane Gillis and Adam Ray is hardly a poor alternative.

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MLB fans were in disbelief that one voter left Ichiro Suzuki off their Baseball Hall of Fame ballot

ONE vote?!

By virtually every metric, Ichiro Suzuki is one of the best hitters to ever play baseball. He’s the kind of player who should require not as much as a second thought before checking his name on a Hall of Fame ballot.

Yet, for one voter, Ichiro wasn’t deserving of Hall of Fame induction in 2025.

On Tuesday, the former MVP, 10-time All-Star and two-time batting champion was named among the three-player class for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was joined by CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. And while there was no surprise as to Ichiro’s induction, there total vote tally was a shock.

Ichiro fell one vote short of a unanimous first-ballot induction.

Now, baseball writers have been notorious with how they approach the Hall of Fame voting for years. Many have refused to consider any player with ties to PEDs, leaving stars like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens out of Cooperstown. And some hold a near-impossible standard for first-ballot candidates. In the voting history, only Mariano Rivera received a unanimous vote.

But really, Ichiro should have been right there with him. There is no argument whatsoever against his candidacy.

Baseball fans were furious to see that Ichiro fell short of unanimity and wanted that writer to come forward.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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For Seattle sports, 6-3 is apparently a common score this year

For Seattle sports, 6-3 is apparently a common score this year

On Thursday night, the Seattle Seahawks eeked out a narrow 6-3 victory over the Chicago Bears under the lights of prime time. Cornerback Riq Woolen iced the game on 4th down with less than 20 seconds left by intercepting quarterback Caleb Williams. This was on an exotic new blitz the Seahawks ran for the first time all season, and it was the perfect time for head coach Mike Macdonald to dial it up.

Outside of that particular sequence, it was hardly the most thrilling game fans have seen this year. During the game, I joked on Twitter about how the score was closer to resembling a game between the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox than a Seahawks vs Bears showdown.

Turns out, I was closer to the truth than I had realized! Interestingly enough, a Seattle sports team winning by a margin of 6-3 over a Chicago sports team in the Windy City is something that has actually happened three times this year.

  • July 27th, 2024 – Mariners defeat White Sox 6-3
  • July 28th, 2024 – Mariners defeat White Sox 6-3
  • December 26th, 2024 – Seahawks defeat Bears 6-3

Taking it one step further, I am sure folks were wondering about Scorigami implications of such an uncommon score in football. For those who do not know what Scorigami is, it is when a game ends in a score that has never occurred before. The Seahawks had an unusual trend of having at least one Scorigami a year from 2010-2018. Surely they earned another with their 6-3 win, right?

Well, you’d think, but no. There have actually been 34 other games in NFL history that ended with a 6-3 final tally, with the last one happening on October 23rd, 2011. Hang on, there is something oddly familiar about that particular date…

*checks my notes*

…oh my goodness, the last 6-3 game played in 2011 also included the Seahawks! Unfortunately, the Seahawks were on the losing end of that one, dropping a game to the Cleveland Browns. As boring/frustrating as winning 6-3 may be, the alternative is much worse, and the 12th Man knows it.

While the 6-3 loss to the Browns was a bummer, it did give us this bone crushing Kam Chancellor highlight, so at least something memorable came from it.

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Julio Rodriguez made the dumbest baserunning error while dodging a flying bat

What are you DOING, Julio Rodriguez?!

The Seattle Mariners are in the thick of a hyper-competitive AL Wild Card race, but they’ve had two baserunning blunders to forget against the Yankees.

The first was Victor Robles trying to steal home on a 3-0 count earlier this week. The second came on Wednesday thanks to Julio Rodriguez.

J-Rod was on third in the 10th inning when Randy Arozarena struck out and his bat went flying out of his hands toward Rodriguez. The outfielder ran to get out of the way of the bat … but the ball was still very much live. A throw to third and Rodriguez was out. Inning over, and the Yankees would go on to win.

OUCH.

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The Mariners turned the weirdest double play after the Angels horribly botched the bunt on a squeeze play

That’s a new one.

The Angels are a last-place team for a reason. They’re near the bottom of the league in runs scored, and even attempts at producing runs via small ball seem to backfire.

But I don’t think anyone could have foreseen a squeeze play going the way it did on Saturday night against the Mariners.

With Jack Lopez at the plate and a runner on third with no outs, Ron Washington looked to catch the Mariners napping by dialing up a squeeze play. Taylor Ward took off from third on the pitch, and all Lopez had to do was lay down a half-decent bunt.

Spoiler: He did not.

https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1830095200632385949

While Lopez did manage to get his bunt down in fair territory, the ball astonishingly stopped on the plate. That allowed catcher Cal Raleigh to quickly pick up the baseball and tag Ward out at home.

Lopez might have even gotten tagged in that initial mayhem, but just to make sure, Raleigh alertly tossed the ball to Justin Turner to complete the double play. And just like that, the Angels went from potentially taking the lead to ending the eighth with a scoreless effort. Despite the mishap, the Angels went on to win, 5-4.

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Everyone was so confused after Gavin Lux’s HR ball came back onto the field from under the Dodger Stadium wall

How does that even happen?

You truly never know what you’ll see in a given baseball game. Despite the sport’s 100-plus-year history, a random August game can lead to something we’ve never seen before. And I can assure you that Gavin Lux has never hit a home run quite like the one he hit on Tuesday night.

With the Dodgers down three runs in the fourth inning against the Mariners, Lux appeared to get the Dodgers on the board with a home run to right-center field. Victor Robles made a leaping attempt at the ball and crashed hard into the wall. When he rolled to his side, the baseball was in view on the warning track.

The umpires initially signaled home run, which had Lux slowing his run and stopping at third. So, had the ball been live all along, Lux likely would’ve had himself an inside-the-park home run. But none of that actually mattered once the umpiring crew reviewed the play.

The reason the baseball was on the field was that it fell back onto the warning track from *beneath* the wall’s padding. Here’s another look:

How does that even happen? The odds for Lux to hit a home run in that specific spot to find a gap in the wall had to be so slim. And despite the initial confusion, Lux was awarded the home run after review. The Dodgers went on to win, 6-3.

Still, fans couldn’t believe how that baseball ended back on the field.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Luis Castillo completely humiliated the Mets’ José Iglesias with a ridiculous 96 mph sinker for a strikeout

He literally had him taking a seat.

There is no task more difficult in sports than hitting big-league pitching. Sure, there are arguments to be made for other sports, but at times, MLB pitchers have it seem miraculous that anyone is even able to make contact.

On Sunday, Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo offered his own case for that argument.

Facing Mets third baseman José Iglesias in the fourth inning with a 1-2 count, Castillo broke out a 96 mph sinker that basically had Iglesias swinging out of his shoes. Iglesias — who is having himself a great season — looked completely overmatched as he swung through the inside pitch and fell to the ground.

Like, what is Iglesias even supposed to do there? The pitch looked like it was heading towards the heart of the strike zone before abruptly running inside — 20 inches of horizontal break will do that.

Even the best hitters are bound to get embarrassed from time to time. It just happened to be Iglesias’ turn on Sunday.

Fans were understandably stunned with that pitch. That’s a tough strikeout to bounce back from.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Mariners manager Scott Servais spotted at Seahawks training camp

Mariners manager Scott Servais spotted at Seahawks training camp

The neighboring Seattle Seahawks and Mariners have always had a solid relationship between the two teams. Players from both are often featured in the other’s pregame ritutals. Such as Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh raising the 12th Man Flag, or Richard Sherman and Byron Murphy II throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

Then of course there was relieft pitcher – and Maple Valley native – Tayler Saucedo “auditioning” to be a Seahawks quarterback.

But the latest Seahawks/Mariners crossover happened yesterday at training camp with Mariners manager Scott Servais stopping by. The Mariners had an off day following their six-day road trip against both Sox teams. Taking advantage of his neighborhood, Servais made an appearance.

It is weird to think but with the departure of Pete Carroll this offseason, Scott Servais is now the longest tenured coach in Seattle’s professional sports scene. Servais was hired in October of 2015. The only other coach who rivals his longevity at this point is Sounders top man Brian Schmetzer, who became the head coach in July of 2016. Storm head coach Noelle Quinn has only been in her role since 2019, and the Kraken just hired Dan Bylsma this year.

Of course, Mike Macdonald is brand new to the scene as well, but this practically goes without saying.

The Mariners take the field once more tonight for a weekend series against the perennial World Series contender Philadelphia Phillies. The Mariners are in a statistical tie for first place with the Houston Astros, who are hosting the Tampa Bay Rays.

More Seahawks Wire stories 

Seahawks DB Tre Brown makes big-time play at training camp practice

MRI reveals good news for Seahawks QB Geno Smith

Seahawks won’t practice, play versus superstar receiver in preseason

Randy Arozarena trade grades: Who won the Mariners – Rays deal?

Let’s grade this trade.

Hey now! We’ve got a trade in Major League Baseball!

As the 2024 trade deadline approaches on Tuesday, July 30, we’ve seen our first major deal with veteran outfielder Randy Arozarena getting dealt from Tampa Bay — where he was a Ray for five years after the Cardinals traded him there in 2020 — to the Seattle Mariners, who are in the mix in the AL West and could use a bat.

So, as usual, we’ll throw out some grades for each of the sides and declare who won or lost this one. Here’s a breakdown of the trade and grades for the Mariners and Rays:

The details of the trade

Mariners get: OF Randy Arozarena

Rays get: RHP Brody Hopkins, OF Aidan Smith and a player to be named later

Seattle Mariners grade

Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, Arozarena isn’t having a great year with a career-low .211 average. But he’s hit 15 dingers, stolen 16 bases, and is generally the sparkplug we know he can be. That’s worth a change-of-scenery trade at a low price.

And it’s that low price — Hopkins and Smith aren’t big names in their system — that has me giving them a solid grade. We’ll see who the player to be named is, but ultimately, bringing in a guy like Arozarena means Seattle is going to go for it and that’s good!

GRADE: A-minus

Tampa Bay Rays grade

I guess we’ll see who the PTBNL is, but when you have a player on a roster that is struggling, who has a contract that runs out at the end of the year, and you’re the Rays with a small payroll, you have to make this trade. I trust the front office more than I do others, so my feeling is they’re getting what they can for Arozarena.

GRADE: B

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A Mariners fan classily reached out on Twitter to get Yordan Alvarez his ball after a cycle

The classiest fan is right here.

Hey, this is a really nice thing to share!

A Seattle Mariners fan named Amy Franz was at T-Mobile Park on Sunday and caught a home run hit by Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez. It’s not the most noteworthy … until he hit a double in the eighth inning to complete the cycle.

So Franz used the power of social media to tell the Astros and Mariners that she wanted to give him the ball. Sure enough, Alvarez met up with her and gave her an autographed ball in thanks, despite the fact that she didn’t ask for anything in return.

Lovely!

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